Just Across the Bar
by scarlett bass
Summary: 1 year ago Tris woke up after being in a coma from her accident in the Weapons Lab. 1 years since she broke things off with Tobias and told him she needed time to heal. Tris and Tobias leading separate lives in Dauntless, but are brought together again for one night. Uriah is alive. The factions have rebuilt themselves. Tris and Uri are leaders and instructors w/Christina and Four.
1. Chapter 1

If I write the word _Then_ in italics, it means it's a memory of the past from whoever's POV. If i write _Now _in italics, it's from the present.

**TRIS'S POV**

_Now_

I've been sitting in this bar for about an hour now. It is the only bar in Dauntless, and I've been downing so much Budweiser I can feel the stares of the couple a few seats away burning in the side of my face. I turn to them, plaster a purposely fake looking smile on my face and wave sarcastically.

I know I shouldn't be drinking again, but it's kind of how I've been dealing with my problems now. Drowning them in alchahol.

I was supposed to be meeting Uriah here but he cancelled. I came anyway.

When I look at all the people aournd me, lauging and having fun, it's almost as if the war never happened. It's been a little over a year, and things seem relatively normal. But I have enough scars to prove that even though our city has rebuilt itself, not everyone in it has been so lucky.

**TOBIAS'S POV**

_Then_

Tris has been in her coma for about three weeks now. The doctors are still working on her, performing a lot of surgeries. Apparently the bullet shattered one of the bones in her ribs and they are having trouble getting all the pieces out without damaging her vital organs. She has another bullet wound in her leg, but that one is a lot less serious.

1 week later...

The doctor has called me in, siad something about Tris regaining conciousness. I knew this would happen soon. For the past week when I have been able to visit her, I felt occasional squeezes, then eventually small flutters of her eyelids, but she never did more than that.

When I come into the room, I see Tris connected to a number of tubes, all pumping some strangely colored liquids into her system.

The nurse closes the door, leaving us all alone in the room.

I sit in the chair beside TRis's hospital bed, and she slowely reaches for my hand. I take it and squeeze, as if I could somehow transfer my energy into her and make her eyes open wider, awake and alive. But instead she weakly squeezes back, that and her shallow breathing being the only indication that this fragile looking girl is actually alive.

"Tobias," she starts. "I have to tell you something." She pauses and takes a deep breathe.

"When I first started to wake up, I wasn't sure what was going on. I was having these flashbacks. Really bad ones. Memories of Al jumping into the chasm, my parents getting shot, me shooting Will, Marlene off the building, Lynn, the Candor boy, every bad thing I've ever seen or have ever been responsible for was all coming back to me. Memories from the first attack up until the day in the Weapons Lab." She paused, and I could see the silent tears beggining to stream down her face. I gently brushed them away and let her continue.

"I began to realize, with everything that happened after the first attack, I never really had time to mourn my parents, my friends, never had time to fully process the whole situation, and how bad it actually was. Those next few weeks when I was aware and in my coma, I just couldnt handle it. I felt like my insides were being ripped out, and I couldn't wake up, no matter what, until yesterday when I fully woke up."

"And I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I can't have a relationship with the state that I'm in. I just feel so bad, so traumatized, I just need the time that I never got to sort out my life, my mind, figure out what to do. I love you, and I can't bear the idea of not being with you, but I need time."

I feel like _I'm _the one who got shot. The only thing I can think to say is, "So what are you asking me to do?"

She takes another deep breath, which looks like it hurts a lot. "I'm asking you to wait for me, if you can. If you don't, I understand. But I still love you." The tears are coming full on now, but she is still as quiet as a mouse.

I don't know what to say to her or what to do. _Should I comfort her? She she's having a mental breakdown of course I should comfort her! _

Without saying anything, I grip her hand tighter and scooch my chair so close that there is no space between us. I kiss her forehead and wrap my arms around her the best I can while she is lying on the hospital bed. My voice is muffled by her hair when I say "I'll wait. But if you make me wait too long then _I _won't know what to do with myself." I kiss her, slowely get up, and eit the room.

**TOBIAS'S POV**

_Now_

I walk into the bar and ask for a Samual Adams. The girls in the seats next to me are whispering about something I folow their stares to a girl sitting across the bar. It takes me a moment to realize that it's Tris. Her hair seems to be getting longer and a little darker, and she grew about 1 inch. I smile to myself, she really does never grow. I suddenly remember the anger and confusion I've been feeling for the past year, wondering how she could leave me, dump me while she was in the ICU hooked up to a mess of tubes and machines.

I get up, sudenly not in the mood to drink. I didn't even notice that Tris had left already.

**Please leave reviews! Next chapter up soon! Soon we'll get to the exciting part. :)**

~M


	2. Chapter 2

**TRIS'S POV**

_Now_

I have already downed four Budweisers and just as I'm ordering a fifth I see Four across the bar. He has a Samuel Adams in his hand and for a second his eyes land on mine, but only for second. He seems deep in thought. My stomach did a little flip when I saw him and I cancel my drink. I steal a few glances at him. He is smiling shyly about something, but he does not glance my way again. I grab my coat and leave the bar, making my way through the Pit, leaving the comforting sounds of the Dauntless cheers and the noise as I make my way up to the Pire.

It is the middle of winter, and the glass building is covered in snow, making the compound darker than usual. I see the faint footprints that have been left by the people who have been trying to shovel the snow, but failed seeing as it snowed again earlier on.

I stop by my apartment and grab my winter coat. Black and warm with fur around the hood. A gift from Christina.

Desperate to feel the cold December air, I burst through the door of the Pire and stumble onto the snowy roof. I like to go out sometimes, walk around the city. I go to different places everytime, but tonight I decide to stay on the roof and enjoy the feeling of refreshment that could only be felt in the winter, like an icy feeling of satisfaction.

I never minded the cold. I loved it actually. It made me feel fresh and clean, free of all my problems. A feeling I can't get from alchahol. I can't get from anything else.

**TOBIAS'S POV**

_Now_

When I step outside the bar, I instantly feel better. The heat of the bar and the sweat of other peoples' bodies was making me strangley uncomfortable. I normally don't mind this, but maybe it was seeing Tris that made me so uneasy.

I look up at the Pire and see faint footprints apprearing. I don't see people up there a lot, but the cool air against my skin after the bar does sound appealing. I climb the steps until I reach the roof, and the second I'm outside I'm instantly relived. Whoever was up here must be gone now, because there is not another person in sight.

I lie down for a few minutes, not caring about how cold it is. I don't mind all that much.

After pacing around the roof for a few more minutes, I sit on the ledge of the building, not facing the city of course, my fear of hights suddenly kicking in.

I don't know how long I sat there, but my thoughts were interupted by the crunching sound of combat boots on snow. I looked up around and saw someone walking along the ledge of the building, so casually as if they wouldn't fall to their death if the stepped one more inch to the right. I can tell it is a girl by the way she holds herself. Tall and confient, and she is too thin to be a guy.

When she reaches the end of the building, she just jumps and turns around, walking back in my direction, not even noticing me. I almost yell at her to be more careful, but then I realize who it is.

_Tris_

Why am I not surprised. A short thin girl outside when everyone else is inside, walking on the edge of a building as if it was a sidewalk. I should have known.

Aparently we notice each other at the same time because she catches me staring and I turn away.

"Tobias?" she asks before hopping off the ledge back onto the roof. "What are you doing up here?"

"I needed to clear my head." I admit

"Me too."

"So.."

"So..."

She looks at me for a second before she says "I saw you at the bar."

"Yeah, I saw you too." I reply to her. _Well this isn't awkward. _I think to myself.

She walks in my direction until she is right infront of me, our faces 8 inches apart to be exact. "I actually come up here all the time. I like to go around the city at night, when no one else is awake. It's nice really, especially in the winter." she says after a moment. I just reply with a nod and try not to look at her too long. I find myself looking at the scar on her forehead but try to focus on the building behind her.

"Do you want to come?" she asks.

I look down at her. "Really?" I say, a little too harshley. I soften my tone when I ask "Where would we go?"

"The places you haven't been to"

"So...everywhere?"

She laughs at this before she grabs my wrist, guiding me to the part of the roof closest to the tracks. We jump on the train, and my stomach does a flip I don't know if it's the train or her, but I ignore it and let Tris lead the way as we take the train to who knows where.


	3. Chapter 3

**TRIS'S POV**

_Then_

They let me out of the hospital today. I'll need crutches for a while because of my leg, but other than that I've made full recovery. I've been seing a therapist aswell to help with my grieving. Tobias and I still talk when we see each other, but he's been giving me my space , which is what I asked for so it shouldn't come as a surprise.

I'm still not used to there being so much distance between us, and I still get the urge to kiss him everytime I see him, but I'll have to get used to it until my mind has fully recovered, or at least mostly recovered. You can get shot and wait for the wound to heal, but there will definately be a scar, no matter what. I guess I'll just have to handle this the same way I deal with getting shot. I have to wait.

We're going back to the city soon, so for now we're staying at the Bureau. The Dauntless and Abnegation are currently in the process of figuring out the locations of their scattered members, sorting out their factions. It's not taking as long as I thought it would, but Erudite has a lot of explaining to do to the rest of the city.

Johanna Reyes will lead the city, and there will be a council with a member of every faction a part of it. This will hopefully make things easier than it was before.

When I get back to Dauntless with Christina, Uriah, and Tobias, I will be a leader with Uriah and an instructor with Christina, Four, and Uriah. As a part time job I will work at the tattoo parlor. I guess I have everything figured out for now, but things will be more complicated with Tobias since I might be seeing a lot more of him, but I guess I'll have do deal with it the same way I'm dealing with everything lately. I wait.

**TOBIAS'S POV**

_Now_

We sit on the floor of the train, shoulder to shoulder. Tris tells me about her day at the parlor and a crazy meeting she and Uriah had and how they were planning to get a drink afterwards but he had to cancel for sme reason. I think she's just trying to keep talking so there are no awkward silences.

When the train stops, we are near the Candor sector. She jumps off the train, and I follow her. She no longer stumbles a few steps after she lands. Now she lands gracefully on her feet, something that takes years of practice to master.

She starts running and I run after her. When she stops short I almost slam into her. I follow her gaze a little ways in front of us and see what looks like a track for running. "A track?" I ask her. My words come out harsh and cold, but I don't think she notices. Or maybe she does but she's just hiding her emotions. She was Abnegation. She's good at that.

"Yeah." she replies. "I was thinking we could use it to train initiates next year. What do you think?" ]

"I think it's a good idea." I admit.

We walk around the track in silence. She looks up at the sky occasionally, and sometimes at the city lights in the distance. A few times I can feel her look at me out of the corner of my eye. I steal a few quick glances, but that's all. We jump back on the train, still not saying anything, and I let her take me to our next mystery location.

Tris can be difficult and confusing, but nothing has surprised me more than watching her climb into the drivers seat of the pick up truck in front of me.

"Are you coming?" she asks.

I climb into the passenger seat as she produces a key and starts up the car.

"Do you even know how to drive?"

"Not really." She admits.

She sees the look on my face and lets out a laugh. "Don't worry, if we die, you can kill me afterwards, no questions asked." Now it was my turn to laugh.

Here's a fun fact about Tris: She can drive. She's just really bad at it. And I mean _really _bad at it. But we haven't died yet so I guess that's a good sign.

"You know, I think I have five fears now, because this is truly terrifying." I tell her. She laughs and playfully punches my arm. I would've told her to not take one hand off the wheel, but her hand sent a wave of electricity through me. I think she noticed the look on my face, but she doesn't saw anything.

We've been driving for about an hour now, and it must be around midnight by now. I look out the open window and see something I've only seen in textbooks or pictures. The woods. How far have we driven?

Then Tris does something pretty stupid. She drives off the road and into the woods, almost crashing into about 7 trees inthe process. "Careful!" I tell her.

"Sorry, still getting the hang of this." she replies truthfully.

"You do know where you're going right?"

"Of course."

"So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

I raise my eyebrows at her.

"Don't worry it's a good surprise!"

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better."

She laughs and focusses on where we're going.

We drive through the woods for about 10 minutes before we stop.

Tris jumps out of the pick up and I climb out aswell. When I'm next to her she produces a flashlight anturns around. I follow her for another 10 minutes before she stops and says "We're here."

I look around and see what I've been seeing for the past 20 minutes. Trees and bushes. But the next thing I know she's pulling out two knives, ands one to me, and points to the cluster of trees infront of us. "Start cutting." I take the knife and start hacking at the branches, and Tris does the same. Once we've made a path big enough for both of us walk through, I finally see what our destination was.

A beach.

"Here we are."


	4. Chapter 4

**TRIS'S POV**

_Then_

"Tris."

"_Tris."_

"TRIS!"

"What?" I spring up from my bed, hitting Uriah's head in the process.

"Ow." he says.

"Sorry."

"It's ok." he says. "We have to be in a meeting in 20 minutes." Shit. I totally forgot. Today we ahve a big meeting with Harrison and Bex, the other two Dauntless leaders I have recently befriended. We have some serious things to talk about.

I jump out of bed and usher Uriah out of my apartment. I take a five minute shower, pull on some black leggings, combat boots, and a dark red sweater. Quickely apply some eyeliner and put my now very long hair into a braid and run out the door. I find Bex and Uriah outside my door.

"Let's go." I say, and we head down to our meeting.

Harrison was already in the Lounge, a cozy room with a couches, a kitchen, a tv, and a small coffee table surrounded by cushions where we usaually sat and held meetings. As soon as we all set down, Bex pulled out an extremely fat binder with the word "DAUNTLESS" printed in large letters on the front. She opened it to a specific page and placed it in the middle of the coffe table for all of us to see.

One page had the Dauntless manifesto on it, and the other had a list of the Dauntless rules. We all agreed to read the rules and discuss what needed to be fixed.

"Okay, so I think the first thing we need to talk about is the whole "factionless when you turn 25" rule." I said after everyone was done reading. They all agreed.

"I think once a person has passed initiation, they have a right to live here for rest of their life." Bex said.

Everyone agreed. "So that's the first thing to change." Uriah wrote it down.

Harrison spoke next. "Unless you are an initiate, Dauntless members should be allowed to leave the compound." All of our heads nodded.

Uriah's turn. "I think we should add an extra few days of initiation for physical stuff. You know, strenghth and tequnique. Beating someone up doesn't mean you have all the strenghth you need in real life situations. So many initiates become members but are still scrawny and weak."

"Okay so how about and extra 3 days in the gym then?"

"Good. That works." We all wrote this down.

My turn. "How about private sessions. You can pay a few points to have a private lesson with an instructor. It doesn't have to be just initiates too. I could be for anyone." Everyone agreed to that, so we all wrote it down.

Harrison wraped thing up for us. "Okay so I saw we go put these rules into effect. Dinner would probably be the best time, when we can get everyone in one place." He grabs the binder and leaves the room. "You guys want to grab Christina and get some lunch?" Bex asked. "Sure." both Uriah and I replied. We grabbed our notes and stood up, leaving the room looking untouched by anyone. Not a common Dauntless trait.

**TOBIAS'S POV**

_Now_

A beach. With sand and rocks and water, the whole thing was all there, right in front of me.

"How did you find this place? And how did no one else ever find it?" I asked, not trying to mask my shocked tone.

"People only cared about what was outside the fence, and they never bothered to go i the other direction. I was looking at this map that was in the Bureau of "The United States of America" Chicago was this tiny tiny dot. She drew a shape in the sand in front of us. I recognized it as Illinoise. She drew the lake, and marked what amount of the state was Chicago. A line to represent the fence. "All we were ever looking at was what was beyond our reach in this direction." She made an arrow pointing in the direction of the lake and the Bureau. "No one ever thought about what was in the other direction." She made another arrow pointing up.

"So where are we right now?" I ask her. She drew another state above Illinoise and labeled it "Wisconsin" She put another dot and labeled it with an "M"

"Milwaukee" she explained. "I have more maps up in my apartment. You should come by and check them out some time." she offered.

"I'd like that. Thanks" I tell her, still looking at the map she drew. I hadn't noticed her lying in the sand, which was only covered in a little bit of snow.

I lie down next to her and look up. "You can't see so many stars in the city" I say. She nods, her eyes closed. We lie there for a while, and for a second I think she's asleep, but she gets up after a while and says "I'll get another key made, I dentical to the one for the pick up. You can come here whenever you want. Maybe bring Zeke and Shauna."

"Really? Thanks. I think they'd love it here."

"Great. I'll get a copy made tomorrow. I mean today, since it's like what 2 now?"

"Yeah. So, wheres our next top secret destination?"

"Oh yeah!" she exclaims, as if she had forgoten what we were doing here. "Let's go"

After another hour long drive, I am surprisingly not tired at all. I asked Tris if she was, and she said no. When we finally got back to where we found the car, which was outside the Dauntless sector, we caught a train. Tris told me our final destination was in the Candor sector.

When we jumped off the train, Tris led me to an abandoned building. I had no idea what we'd be doing here, but she simply just grabbed my wrist and guided me through the dark building. We went up some stairs to the seventh floor and Tris stopped in front of an apartment door. She produced yet another key and opened the door.

When I stepped inside, Tris searched for the light switch. The lights came on and my jaw dropped.

Inside the apartment was everything I have never seen used today. Records, cameras, computers, gadgets and things I have never seen outside of pictures. Books that weren't textbooks, magazines, a small box labeled "old money", a typewriter, string lights that looked like stars were strung everywhere in the room, and an airmatress covered in the contents of a box labeled "DVD'S"

I hear Tris's voice from behind me. "I like to collect things."

"This is amazing. Where did you find all of this stuff?"

"Around. Old apartments, abandoned stores, some stuff from the Bureau."

"Mind if I look around?"

"That's why I brought you here."

I start to walk around the room, my attention drawn to the music records. Tris grabs one, and puts in in the record player. I read the sleeve. It said "M83-Hurry Up We're Dreaming"

"I love this song. 'Midnight City' It's my favorite." Tris says, making her way over to the mountain of books on the other side of the room. She grabs one off of a stack, plops herself on the floor, and starts reading. I look at the DVD'S on the air mattress. Things I've never heard of. Tris explains thta they're movies. The first one I pick up is called "Warm Bodies" Tris ahd a pile with a post it that said "favorites" on it. The pile was extremely tall and some names were things like:

The Blind Side

The Breakfast Club

The Notebook

The Dark Knight

Non Stop

Endless Love

I didn't recognize any of them, but then again I didn't know what half of the stuff in this room was.

Tris comes over to where I'm sitting and sits down next to me. She notices the DVD "Warm Bodies" in my hand. "You have to watch that. The song I just played was in it. If you want to come back we can watch it. I think you'd love it."

"Okay." I told her. "We can do that."

She explains the main ideas of all the movies that surround us. She said once she finds an old forgotten TV we could watch them, but for now a computer would work. I told I really looked forward to coming back to watch them, and this seemed to make her really excited. "I haven't even told Christina about this place. Or the beach really. You're the only person who knows about it." Tris admits.

We've been here over an hour, and after a series of shared yawns, we decide that it's best to go back to the compound.

We get back to the compound half an hour later.

"Shit." I mutter under my breath, not quiet enough for Tris not to hear. "What is it?" she asks, sounding genuinly concerned. "I gave my apatment key to Zeke. He's asleep now." he explains.

"You can crash at my place."

"Huh?"

"There's a couch you can sleep on. Come on, my apartment is this way." She grabs my hand and guides me to her apartmanet. After fumbling with the key a little bit, she unlocks the door and we let ourselves in.

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